When You Pull the Needle
by MoonstoneMeow
Summary: Lucas didn't expect that when he pulled the final needle, everything would reset. Claus didn't expect that when Lucas pulled the final needle, he'd be alive again, a chimera, but feeling. Neither know how to respond to this. But they do know one thing: they can't tell anyone! If they did, it might make things go back to the way they were. Oh hey, is that a pigmask?
1. I am Claus, You Are Lucas

Fear and hope filled Lucas' heart when he pulled the final needle. He was furious with Porky, and still crying about Claus, but one way or another the needle had to be pulled. Maybe everything will be fine when he pulls it. Maybe Mom and Claus will come back? Lucas held onto the little hope he had, even if it was difficult. Once he had pulled the needle, he could feel the destruction before he saw it, and saw it before he understood what it meant. He had failed. He had failed and everything would be destroyed and there was nothing he could do. Oh gosh, this is EXACTLY what Porky had wanted. His own brother had killed himself trying to stop this from happening, and Lucas messed it up and, now, who knows what would happen? Lucas closed his eyes and curled up into a ball and started crying and crying more and more, until he couldn't anymore. He opened his eyes and… everything was… back to normal. He sat up in his bed, and looked around, and he was back at his grandfather's house. That day. That day when everything happened.

Soft. It's soft. It's soft and warm. It smells nice. It feels familiar. It feels normal. It feels… normal. What was happening to him? Claus moved his arm carefully, the one he recalled being more normal of the two. Yep. Still an arm. That was pointless. But what wasn't was that… he was still alive! And… HE moved the arm. Not anything else that might be a part of him. Claus did it… himself. He dizzily pushed himself up using the same arm he just moved, and tried to figure out where he was. Was he dead? Was this the afterlife? Claus opened his eyes, both at once, and realized where he was. Home. Not home home, as it wasn't the house he was normally in, but… darn it, where was he?! He tried to recall any memories he could of before everything, but to no avail. Why was this so hard? Confused. That's the word for the feeling. Confused. And… curious too. Yeah. He was those two things. He could smell something. Something that smelled delicious, and he wanted some of it, whatever it was. "... Claus?" Familiar. Claus looked at the source of the voice, someone who looked like the way he used to. Lucas. That's Lucas. That's my brother. Claus remembered that from earlier. Claus spoke carefully with little emotion. "Lucas." Lucas ran to Claus and wrapped his arms around him. It was a hug, right? It'd be nice to hug him back. So he did. Claus grabbed onto Lucas and decided not to let go. Not to let go for fear that if he did, he might lose him and never find him again. Fear. Being scared of losing something. Lucas is irreplaceable. Lucas is human. What is human? Lucas. Lucas is human. Was Claus human? No, he decided he was not. It's been too long since he has been. How long was too long? Claus couldn't remember, but it felt long. But he let Lucas go when he started gasping for air.

"Claus, I'm so happy you're alive! Can you… can you think on your own?" Claus sat for a moment, eyes focused on nothing. But speaking of eyes… oh gosh, why was one of his eyes red? No. No no no no nonononononoNO! It didn't work. Why was he still a chimera? Why? But Claus did answer, and while robotic sounding, it was steady and had something human to it. "Alive. I am alive. And I can think on my own. You are Lucas. My brother. I'm Claus. That is me. Claus is me." "YES! Yes, I am Lucas, and you are Claus! You are Claus and always will be! You will always be my brother!" Claus smiled, a sight Lucas had missed for the past three years. "I am… happy. Happy right? That's the right word?" "Yes. Yes it is." Lucas felt a smile spread across his face too, and a warm feeling inside of his heart. Even if Claus is unsure of what he's feeling, he's still FEELING, and that's what matters. Lucas wondered just how MUCH Claus could feel, but he seemed to be fine. That's when someone started knocking on the door to their room.

"Lucas, Claus, it's time to get up! Breakfast is almost ready! You don't want it to get cold!" Claus KNEW that voice. Tears started rolling down Lucas' face, but Claus thought he could recall that being common. However, Lucas whispered one word quietly. "Mom." Yet that one word sent a reaction through Claus that he couldn't really explain. Not a glitch, right? That would be inconvenient due to the fact Claus wasn't sure where the nearest scientist was. No. It was something more. That voice… was his mom. ... But she died. Claus thought, without realizing it. She died and left us behind and I will help I will avenge I will become stronger I will destroy the destroyer I will overcome I will… Claus cut his train of thought off when Lucas has went from crying a couple tears to water simply streaming right down his face. Claus thought he should comfort Lucas… but how? Before Claus knew what he was doing, he stood up much quicker than he should have, as his vision started swimming. It seemed his head didn't want to keep up with his body, but Claus' body was moving on it's own… in a good way. In the past if he wasn't trying to do something, it was because he was being controlled or commanded. But… no. He could stop this at any time if he wanted to. He just didn't want to. Because he knew where he was going, and he knew exactly what he was going to do, and he wanted to do so. On his way out, Claus grabbed the arm of a Lucas who was now on the floor crying even harder, and pulled him up with no effort, and dragged Lucas out with him to see someone. His mother. No. **Their** mother. They were brothers, and Claus was going to remember that forever, and never let it go. Now to go face what was going to happen. Claus wasn't sure what word to use to describe his current feeling.


	2. Why are there pigs everywhere?

He turned the door knob. Claus turned the door knob, and it came right off the door. Just great. Lucas started laughing. He went straight from crying to laughing, just like he used to. Claus felt something of a smile go across his face. Well, serious mood officially ruined. He had trouble understanding what it was that just happened, but it did, so Claus would be okay with that. But then they walked down the steps, where their mother was waiting, ever-present smile across her face.

Lucas ran into her arms crying. She was warm and friendly and familiar and mom. "Mom… I… I missed you!" Hinawa was a little confused, but she warmly hugged Lucas back. Lucas remembered this feeling, and cherished it. He held on tight, as to not accidentally lose her again. They hugged, and it felt like time stopped, until Hinawa started speaking. "How exactly did you miss me in the span of one night?" Lucas started crying so hard he couldn't even speak. Why did he have to cry right now? He wanted to tell mom everything, talk about things for hours, catch up, and… wait. No. He couldn't do that to her. No, he'd have to keep this secret between him and Claus. Hopefully they were the only ones who remembered. He wondered if Claus felt the same way. "Now, Lucas, if you don't want breakfast to burn, I'm going to have to check on it…" Lucas reluctantly let go. He didn't want to, but he did. Afterall, he did have to keep some sort of normalcy, and breakfast that wasn't burnt was important! He'd have to stop crying if he didn't want mom to find out. Something occurred to Lucas though, as he thought about breakfast. Could Claus even eat? It wasn't something Lucas made a point of considering in the past, but it was kind of important now.

Claus wasn't positive what it was he was supposed to do. For years now, every action had been for the greater good of his 'master' or whatever, so making his own decisions…? Not so easy. But Claus knew one thing. If he could help it, no one would know anything had happened, or the needles were pulled, or anything of the sort! He'd make that his objective for now, as he quickly realized he needed one. He didn't know how he was meant to react around his mom, but he was happy to see her. Excited? Thrilled? No, happy. That sounds right. But Lucas approached him, breaking his thoughts with a question. He whispered "Hey, I know this sounds strange, but can you eat?" The question caught Claus off-guard, because he wasn't sure he remembered the answer. He used to, for sure, but now? "You've got to be eating more! You've got to be spending less time with these needles, and more time on human health, otherwise your body will start rejecting everything you put it through!" Yep, Scientist did want him to eat. Sleep more too? It never really happened, so Claus wasn't completely sure. "...Yeah. I think so…?" "Oh, good! By the way… can we agree not to talk about anything that's happened in the last three years… to anyone? Please?" "I was thinking the exact same thing."

Hinawa started to set the table, and brought out omelettes. Lucas couldn't remember the last time he's had his mother's omelettes! He literally jumped for joy! He looked over, and saw that even Claus was smiling. Alec had come in, and they all had breakfast together, just as they once did. The omelettes were AMAZING! It'd been so long since Lucas had had them, and he forgot just how GOOD they were! Like last time, Alec was teasing him about being a crybaby, but this time, it didn't bother him. But… like last time…

"Well, as much fun as we've had, I think it's time to go. We want to get home before it gets dark." Lucas and Claus both shouted in unison "NO!" Hinawa looked at them, surprised. "Well yes, it's been a lot of fun, but we have to return home soon." Excuse, excuse, excuse, where's an excuse? Yes! "But mom… one more day? Just one more? The umm… dragos just brought over their babies." Man, Claus hated those dragos now. That's definitely the word for it! But if it will save mom's life… "I suppose one more day couldn't hurt, but just one." Claus heard Lucas sigh in relief. But that meant now Claus had to act normal for a day, but with the dragos. Great.

Relief flooded Lucas as Claus' excuse worked. That would give a day for everything to settle down, without any chance of history repeating itself. However, to act normal, they would have to actually go out and play with them. So next thing Lucas knew, he and Claus were going out to see the dragos. Luckily, Alec decided to stay in and talk with Hinawa, so they could drop the act in a moment. So, after they changed out of their PJ's, they went out to see the ones who future-tense murdered Hinawa in the past.

When they approached the dragos, Claus heard a voice. "I just don't think it's such a good idea to change the wildlife. I'm sorry, but I just can't do it." As they got closer, Claus saw who was speaking to who. It was Scientist! Talking to a pigmask… Before Claus knew what it was he felt, he pulled out his lightning sword and struck them both. He found that he had still had it when he woke up, and he just felt more comfortable carrying it around with him. Good thing he did. He heard Lucas make a noise of surprise, and ran over to where the pigmask and Scientist were getting back up. Scientist was the first to speak. "...Commander? But… I heard that…" "My name is not Commander, it is Claus." Scientist had a surprised look, then responded "Oh! I'm so sorry… I guess I never really got to know what your name really was…" Claus tried to remember what Scientist's real name was too, but he couldn't recall ever actually caring in the past. The pigmask started to speak. "We have a job to do. If you won't do it, you'll be in a lot of trouble Scientist." Well, that's why he didn't remember. No one did. Scientist looked terrified, but held his ground. "No. I'm sorry, but… I can't! Not this time! And King P can't do anything about it! ...Please don't hurt my friends…" "That is up to King P, not to me. Now, about these kids…" "I really wouldn't mess with them…" "And why is that?" "Just trust me… Com- Claus is just about the second strongest person I know." "I find that hard to believe." "It's true!" "He's just a kid." "He may look that way…"

Lucas started to sob. There was a stranger with a lab coat that had Porky's symbol on it, not to mention a pigmask, and they were talking about Claus like he meant nothing. He knew his brother probably felt something of anger, but all he could feel was sadness. How could this happen? The needles were pulled! Doesn't that mean everything should be fixed? The pigmask looked towards him with an unreadable expression. It started walking closer to him, which made Lucas curl up in a ball and cry even harder. When he looked up, Claus had taken his lightning sword and struck the pigmask again, this time standing between it and Lucas. "Leave. My. Brother. Alone." Lucas wasn't sure what to do. His brother had just started trying to adjust to being normal, and yet now he has to fight again. The nearby drago got in on the action. It let out a huge roar, and the pigman squealed and ran. Thanks drago. Maybe you aren't so bad after all…

Claus felt this feeling, anger, well up inside him. Then he wanted to jump up and cheer when the drago had helped, but now there was a bigger problem. Scientist. When Claus turned to face him, Scientist pulled back, obviously terrified. But it seemed like he remembered, so Claus didn't blame him for that. But it was confusing. HE didn't pull the needles, so HE shouldn't remember anything. Though perhaps maybe it's better that he did, Claus thought to himself, because then he won't make the same mistakes. "What are you doing here?" Claus asked flatly, with a hint of bitterness in his tone. Scientist backed up a little more, like he was about to run but he was too scared to. "Commander, I…" "I said my name is Claus." "Claus… I… I'm sorry." "Is that it then? Sorry is all you can say?" "I… it's not my fault! King P made me do it… I… I want to make it up to you. I don't know how but-" "Why don't you start by not scheming with pigmasks?" "I wasn't scheming! In fact, when I woke up, I was in my quarters like normal! I was confused, and then I was talked to like the Chimera Project was a new thing! And then I realized… it was! I wanted to try to stop it, but I didn't have a choice!" "Let me ask you something." Claus got really close to Scientist's face, and whispered something so Lucas couldn't hear. "Is Porky still around?" Scientist looked shocked for a second, then responded. "I think so, but I can't tell for sure." More of that anger feeling. With a new one though: hatred. No. This was all wrong. The new universe was supposed to be perfect! Everything was supposed to be okay again! But it wasn't. And Claus knew exactly who's fault that was. His own.


	3. Of COURSE the forest has catch fire

Lucas watched his brother pace back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. He didn't blame him, this was unexpected! The universe was meant to be perfect and nothing was! Lucas didn't know what Claus had whispered, but when the scientist guy responded with a yes, he seemed furious. ...At least it's an emotion? Lucas didn't really know how to react, because he realized he didn't really know much about the situation. But he did notice that the boy everyone calls scientist, he was around Lucas' age. He was pale, freckled, and had creepy red eyes. Lucas found himself wondering how he was considered 'Scientist' if he couldn't be much smarter than Lucas. Probably. Lucas kept wondering about this, until he realized he should probably be wondering something much more important. Like what happens when the forest catched on fire.

And it did. Claus knew it was going to happen eventually but in the HEAT of the moment, he forgot. He also made a mental note to not make puns that aren't even funny to a robot when serious things are happening. Claus grabbed Lucas close, as he couldn't leave him behind. Then, he spread out his two mechanical wings that were really much more flashy than they needed to be, and flew up towards the sky to get a view of things. Lucas screamed. He started thrashing about yelling "Claus! Put me down put me down! What if we fall? What if you let go? What if…?" "Shh…" Claus shushed his brother. Lucas seemed to be forgetting that if Claus put him down now, he would fall 50 miles to the burning Sunshine Forest, but luckily for him the mechanical enhancements in Claus' arms would make it so he could easily hold Lucas, thrashing or not, in one hand without dropping him. He'd mess around with Lucas about it later, but now really wasn't the time. Claus watched the forest burn. He didn't know how to feel. As he watched the destruction swallow up the forest he used to love, he didn't move. He knew Lighter and Fuel were in there. He knew his father would be soon too. But he didn't move. He just watched. He watched and felt numb, like he always did. He watched all of the animals, real animals, run for their life, and wondered if he'd do the same.

"Claus… shouldn't we do something? Dad and Fuel are in there! And… and mom will start looking for us!" As soon as Lucas said the word mom, Claus had turned off his wing fire things and started doing a major nose-dive. Lucas was absolutely terrified. They were going quicker than those weird car things, and going down FAST! Faster than Lucas has ever gone before. He screamed and cried, and couldn't breathe and had no clue what would happen when they hit the ground. But they didn't. Right before they hit the ground, Lucas noticed for the first time Claus had freaking rocket boots which he started to slow his fall, and Claus landed easily on his feet. Now, Lucas didn't know much about this technology stuff, but that was kind of cool. Completely terrifying, yes, but cool. However, due to fear, relief, and feeling like he needed to puke, Lucas broke down sobbing. Claus quickly dropped him, like touching something hot. Lucas was so confused and started crying even harder. Why would Claus just drop him like that just because he was scared?

He can be emotional all he wants, but does he really need to cry? Claus backed away from Lucas like he was carrying the plague. It wasn't anything against him, but Claus would really prefer not to get water in his circuitry. It wouldn't kill him, as that would be much too inconvenient for The Needle Project, but it would make his miserable until he could find some way to get it out. Not to mention, Scientist would probably have to fix some things, and Claus really didn't want to deal with that. So instead, Claus simply backed away. Lucas seemed to cry harder, but Claus wasn't sure if he was capable of feeling bad. If he was, he didn't. Instead Claus grabbed Lucas by the hand. That seemed safe enough, because he put on gloves this morning. He noticed that when he got changed, his sweaters were all already long sleeve, and there were gloves, long pants, and knee-high socks. That's not what he remembered wearing, and Lucas still wore short sleeves and shorts. But it didn't matter. Not much did at this point. What mattered was going back to mom so she didn't have to come looking for them. Claus started running, and dragging Lucas along, but he was really slow. So, Claus put Lucas on his back, and started running as fast as his mechanical legs would take him. So they ended up back at Alec's pretty instantly. Claus burst through the door.

Lucas sighed in relief when he saw his mom safe and sound. She was watering a potted sunflower. Lucas started crying. Things were so… so normal! It was like nothing had happened, nothing at all. Lucas ran into his mother's arms, crying and hugging. He was so scared, so scared she had went outside. She can't see the fire. She shouldn't see such great destruction. Lucas would keep her here, no matter what. "Mom…" "Yes Lucas?" "Can we do something together, like stay inside and do something altogether?" "Why would you want to stay inside on such a nice day? Anyway, didn't you say you wanted to stay an extra day specifically because of the baby Dragos?" "Well, yes but… I… I just think we should spend some time together, as a family! Like a cozy rainy day!" Out of the corner of his eye, Lucas saw Claus facepalm. Glad he got his brother's approval! But none of it mattered, because Alec came in at that very moment with a warning about the fire. Lucas' efforts were all in vain when Hinawa ran outside to see. Lucas guessed it was inevitable, but still. Lucas wondered what was going to happen now. The day wouldn't go down the same way. The Drago may not even be a chimera, and if it was, he'd make sure Hinawa didn't run into it. And if she did, well, Lucas wondered if Claus could take the Drago this time around if he had to. It's so weird to think that this was the day everything changed. What would happen this time around? Is Claus strong enough? ...Of course he was. Claus could do anything. Anything at all.

Claus couldn't do anything. Lucas had run to Hinawa with great emotion, while Claus felt little. But he did know that he was going to protect Hinawa this time. No matter what it took. Claus stood awkwardly at the doorway while Lucas sobbed. As long as it wasn't on him, he was fine. When Hinawa came in, she said "I'm glad we didn't leave earlier, because we would've still been in there… we need to find some way to tell Flint that we're okay though. But… I can't send a bird in this…" Claus watched his mother freak out. He didn't remember her ever doing that in the past. In fact, he didn't think she ever had. He hated Porky so much. Everything about him. He was the cause for all this panic, all of this commotion, his mother's death… Claus was going to stop him from taking over this time, and nobody could stop him. Not even Porky himself.

"You came seeking revenge?" Claus nodded, trying to stay as brave as possible. His face deceived him. "Then why don't you help me instead? You'll get revenge on ANYTHING that hurt you in the past. The world will be mine first, yours second? How does that sound?" Claus shook his head violently. He knew he must be shaking like a leaf, but he wouldn't show it. This was the one, right? The one that caused the animals to go crazy, the one that caused the forest to catch on fire… the one that killed his mother. Suddenly, all of Claus' fear turned to anger. He pulled out the homemade dagger, yet again, and held it in front of him in a way that if Porky wanted to get anywhere near him, he'd have to go through the dagger first. "I don't like people who don't agree with me. You're no fun. How about this…" A smile slowly spread across Porky's decimated face. "I'll let you be my friend… how about that?" Before Claus could make any sort of remark, he felt a blunt object hit him from the back… and everything went dark…"

Lucas watched the bird carry off the letter. Eventually Hinawa had decided that a bird could fly over any flame, and sent it. Lucas watched it, and relief took over him. No one would get hurt this time! All this relief after all this stress made Lucas feel a little drowsy. If he had gotten ANY sleep in this universe, it wasn't much. But Claus was himself again, Hinawa was alive, and Flint wasn't going to come into the forest and risk his life. Everything would be okay… except it wouldn't! Lucas quickly startled out of his restful state as he remembered something. Fuel! Lucas distinctly remembered hearing something about Flint saving Fuel! But Flint shouldn't go into the forest, so someone else would have to… but who? Lucas then quickly realized the only two people he or Claus would allow going into that forest right now is themselves… and he couldn't make Claus deal with all of that stress and violence right now. That left one person… no! No! Not now, please not now! Lucas desperately just wanted some rest with his family but… no. He wouldn't let anyone else do this. Lucas ran upstairs, and saw Claus passed out on the bed. Good. He needs some sleep. He's probably been really tired lately. He didn't look like he was having the best dreams though… but Lucas didn't want to wake him. He probably hasn't had a good amount of sleep in 3 years. Lucas took the blanket and covered him up. "Goodnight Claus" he whispered, as he tiptoed around the bed to the closet. When he opened it, he found his Awesome Crown, Ring, and Cape, and his Mystical Scepter, and headed out for the burning Sunshine Forest.

When Claus woke up, he felt like he hadn't slept at all. Of course, he was always exhausted lately. He got out of bed, and found some food in what everyone called a microwave. This has been a routine thing for what felt like a week, and he started to get used to it. He pressed the number buttons on the thingy, and it made the weird buzzing noise it always made. When it made the obnoxious beep, he opened it up and ate it. It was bland, like always. He missed his mother's omelettes. But he'd never get those again. He stretched a little, since he was still stiff from yesterday's practice, and waited for Locria to come back in. Locria was always bitter, and always pushed Claus to his limits, both physically and psychically. There really was no pleasing her. Of course, Locria came in, as usual, and was in it's disguise, as usual, and took Claus to the training center, as usual. It had insisted that it's identity be hidden. It also insisted the Claus be able to use his psychic abilities before the 'next step'. Whatever that was, Claus was NOT looking forward to it.

The smoke stinged Lucas' eyes, and he felt himself tearing up for natural reasons this time around. But he needed to save Fuel first. As he ran through the forest, he saw pigmasks EVERYWHERE! He wanted to fight them, to make them pay for what they did, but he had bigger fish to fry. He quickly made it to Lighter's log cabin, and quickly brought Fuel out. "...Lucas? YOU came to save me?" "Yeah… What's wrong?" "Nothing, I'm just surprised! Also, you're pitch black and covered in soot." Lucas quickly brought Fuel back to a grateful Lighter. Now, he needed to do something about these pigmasks…

Claus bolted awake. He didn't remember ever falling asleep, but it seemed that he did. However, he found a note when he woke up:

**Dear Claus,**

**I'm writing this for you just in case I'm not back when you wake up. Don't worry though!**

**I'm just in the Sunshine Forest, saving Fuel so dad doesn't have to!**

**Please don't come looking unless I've been gone for a long time. Get some rest.**

**I'll be back before you know it!**

**~Lucas**

Well that sounded like the beginnings of a major plot point if Claus ever saw one, but he decided to respect Lucas' wishes. After all, Lucas was capable of taking care of himself for 3 years WITH all the chimeras, him included. Claus thought he'd do just fine without them. He felt mostly numb, but there was one feeling that he wished he didn't have, because he needed to trust his brother. One feeling he felt he'd be better without…

It was worry.


	4. What to do when your brother needs you

Where am I? Lucas found himself asking this question quickly after he woke up. But the answer was soon obvious. He looked around, and everywhere he looked, he saw a shockingly familiar symbol. Porky's logo. Why was he seeing this though? Was he in New Pork, the Chimera Lab, or somewhere else? Lucas found that he could move freely around the room, however there wasn't much to see. A simple bed, some weird hatch in the wall, and a painting of a pigtunia. Pigtunias probably didn't exist at this time! Lucas wondered around the room for a little bit, what may have been hours, until someone came in through the hatch. Fassad looked just as surprised to see him as he was to see Fassad.

Claus tried to take his brother's advice. He tried to stay calm and rest for awhile. But he couldn't. Everything was going to happen so fast! Any moment their father was going to leave for the burning forest, and who knows what would happen to him this time! Who knows what could happen… Claus quickly bolted up, ran outside and spread his mechanical wings. He quickly flew over the entire burning forest and made it to Tazmily Village. Wow. This place changed a lot. Well, future tense changed in the past. Yes, that's what it did. He couldn't remember specifically caring about this place when he was the commander, but he did sometimes see it. "_You see this town?" Fassad had asked. The Commander nodded stiffly. "It's pretty pointless, but we may be able to use this place to gather some information." The Commander looked at all the people walking about. They used to be happy, he thought. He pushed the thought aside. No. That didn't matter. The only use for this place is to find leads on the needles. He looked around, and saw a castle towering over everything. "There." He said emotionlessly. He didn't feel accomplishment, he didn't feel excited, he didn't feel anything. Fassad looked where the Commander had pointed. "Yes, that feels right! Good going Commander! Let's go see if we can find it!" There was, however excitement in Fassad's voice. The Commander noted that. Just what was his purpose for being in this group, the Commander wondered. Then, in the corner of his mind he often ignored, he wondered, just what is MY purpose for being in this group?_

"What are you doing here?" Lucas asked, nervous energy flowing through his veins. "Better question: What are you doing here?" Fassad asked, his face giving little away. "Aren't the magypsies supposed to be dead? The needles were pulled, right?" Fassad stared at Lucas, considering things for a moment. Lucas quickly realized that Fassad didn't actually know. Fassad didn't say a word, so Lucas changed the subject. "How can I get out of here?" "You don't." "Huh? Wh-What do you mean?" "I mean the Chimera Project hasn't stopped simply because Scientist and the old Commander ran off."

"Dad?" Claus ran home. Home. Home where he grew up. Home where mom lived. Home where they were happy. Home. Claus tried to get inside, but the door was locked. He quickly pulled off the doorknob. He went inside. "Dad?" Claus called out, and a new feeling filled him. He didn't know how to describe it, but he wanted to cry when his dad looked at him and smiled. "Claus, you're home! So great to see you back safe. Where are the others?" "They… stayed there for awhile. Until the fire stops. Is Lucas here?" "No, don't you know where he is?" Claus ran up to his father and hugged him, unsure of why. He found himself saying "I'm so sorry." over and over. Flint looked confused, and asked "Claus, what happened to your brother?" "He's safe. He's okay, he's… Dad. I'm sorry for being so hasty." Claus was unsure where all these feelings were coming from. What was this feeling? Guilt? Happiness? Sadness? Why couldn't he figure out something as simple as an emotion? What is it that he feels? Why does he act the way does? This is so inefficient! He just needed to tell his father to stay put, then go back and look for Lucas! But instead he was about to cry, which REALLY didn't sound like a good idea right now! And he had to get back to mom, so she didn't get worried. There's so much to do. Well, he knew one thing he could feel. Stress! He told his father "Don't come looking for us, we're fine." and he ran outside, and flew all the way back to Alec's.

No! No nononononononono! Lucas couldn't become a Chimera. He couldn't do this all over again, from the other side! Fassad had left Lucas alone, and Lucas was helpless. He couldn't escape. He couldn't DO anything. Except… what if he tried to communicate with his brother! The way Kumatora used to! Okay, okay, if Kumatora could do it, so could Lucas! "Claus!" Lucas shouted out loud. Whoops. Now he looked insane. Okay, okay, psychically. Gotta communicate psychically!

"_Claus!"_ Lucas shouted psychically. He knew that because of the italics. "_Claus! I need your help! Can you hear me?" "Lucas?" _Claus shouted out psychically himself. "_Lucas, where are you?" "I-I don't know. But Fassad is here. He says I'm next for the Chimera project!" "He WHAT?" _Even psychically, Lucas could hear Claus' anger. At least he felt something… "_Where are you?" _Claus asked. "_I-I don't know!" "Describe it!" _Lucas felt like crying. "_Umm…" "Lucas, this is really important. What do you see?" _Claus tried to talk (or think) as slowly and as calmly as he could, starting to regret sounding so harsh. He wasn't really used to taking other's feelings into account when he needed something from them. But then again, he rarely took his own into account either. "_Okay, I see a painting, a hatch, and a bed. Nothing else." "Can you open the hatch?" "No, but there's a spot for a password." _Claus took a moment to try to remember the proper password for the time period and area. There was no telling what would happen if he put in the wrong one. "_Okay, try BESTFRIENDNESSMONTAGUE and see if that works."_

Lucas went to the control panel and copied the weird yet oddly suspicious password, that was probably just random anyway. Whoever heard of a Ness Montague? Anyway, after he entered it, a picture of a happy pig rolling around in some mud appeared for a second, and the hatch opened. Lucas climbed inside to find an elevator. "_I'm in! It's one of those weird up and down boxes or whatever that works like stairs that you don't have to do anything to climb up." "An elevator?" "Yes! That's the word!" "Okay, go to the first floor."_ Lucas pushed the 1 button, and elevator music in the form of King P's theme song or whatever played as we went down. It opened up to a hallway with many similar hatches all labelled with different names. The names seemed pretty human, so he assumed that this was the Pigmask Quarters. Or some of them, anyway. He went to the end of the hallway, and he found himself in some sort of cafeteria. He saw only the pink, lower class pigmasks, but he decided he was safer not caught then caught. He figured they didn't really think he was their Commander yet.

Claus finally spotted New Pork City flying by. _Now or never_ he thought. He quickly leapt off of the ground, and snapped out his mechanical wings and started flying before they were even fully out. He'd regret that later, but that was the least of his concerns right now. Once he landed his senses were overcome with a hurricane of noises, smells, and lights. He felt so dizzy, and he wanted to lie down and sleep this feeling away. But he had a purpose now. A mission. He let his senses and emotions dull, then fade away. They weren't important now. He stood at the edge and waited. After a while, a new building came into view. One that had just been built. He jumped off and snapped his wings out while falling, the air resistance making them hurt so bad he wanted to tear them off, but he made an easy landing. He quickly put them away and started inside.

Lucas had no clue where he was going. He had simply went down the first hallway he had found. What else was he supposed to do when being chased by who-knows-how-many pigmasks? He knew they were going to catch up soon, so when he found an air vent he wasted no time climbing inside. When he was sure he was safe, he let out a breath of relief and let warm tears stream down his face as he watched hundreds of pigmasks run by. He knew he couldn't go back out that way, so he'd have to find a different way out. He started crawling through the vents, hoping beyond hope that he'd find a safe and empty room to drop down in.

Claus was pretty sure he was being followed by at least 10 pigmasks. Scratch that. He was being followed by exactly 4 Pigmasks Majors, 3 Colonels, 6 Captains, and just one regular Pigmask. So, 14 of them. But he didn't care. What he did care about was finding his brother unharmed. And if he was… well, he wouldn't be the only one. Lucas wasn't in an easy to find spot, but that was for the best so no one else could find him and hurt him. Claus considered trying to contact Lucas again, but then remembered that Fassad was probably still here. It'd be able to tell that his psychic energy was in the area, and possibly even what they were saying. He'd better just search silently. Luckily the pigmasks exactly 15.265 feet behind him didn't yet know his importance. Or of his existence in their future's past.

Lucas felt like he had been crawling for hours before he found a room with no one in it. He quickly dropped down, and fell onto his knees. He tried desperately to keep tears back as he looked for somewhere else to go. He found it in the form of a door leading underground. He cautiously crept towards it as quietly as possible, then pushed it open. To his surprise, there were no alarms of evil chimeras. But it was creepy! Where was Claus when you needed him?

Claus was in one of the hallways, and he found a door that looked suspicious. When he opened it, he found another door. When he opened that, he found an underground passage. So he closed the first door behind him and put a desk in front of it so the pigmasks couldn't follow, then he went into the creepy, moldy, moist, and mossy cave-like thing. He was pretty sure he'd short out if too much water dripped on his circuitry, so he'd have to be careful.

Someone was following Lucas. He could hear heavy, even footsteps in a rhythmic pattern. He closed his eyes and wanted to disappear from sight, to appear home with his newly alive mother, and see his dad happy, and have the family back together. He curled in a ball, and kept hoping and hoping. He couldn't do this anymore! He cried and cried, until he felt a hand on his back. He slowly opened his eyes to see his brother staring emotionless back at him. Lucas jumped up quickly and practically tackled Claus. He hugged him so tight that he could feel some of Claus' metal and circuits. Claus was still for a moment, then his arms slowly wrapped around Lucas. A fake smile spread across Claus' face.


	5. Memories and Tunnels

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"strong3 years before the needle was pulled.../strong/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Fassad was still pretty new to the operation. He still wasn't quite sure what exactly he was expected to do. Because of his great power, he had been immediately placed above all of the useless pigmasks already there, but due to this there was a lot of unease among them about his intentions and they didn't like him one bit. He didn't blame them, as he hasn't proven himself yet, but it didn't help that they expected him to know what he was doing. His walk was still kind of bouncy and girly, and he was overall much more animated and caring then he should be. So, he had to find SOMETHING to prove himself with. But of course answers just don't come out of nowh- Fassad felt something powerful. He quickly turned to go into that direction, confusing all the pigmasks behind him. He quickly ran towards Drago Plateau, where he knew something powerful was. SomeONE powerful. When he got there, he found a young boy passed out on the ground. Did he fall off? Clutched in his hand was a crudely made knife, and he was covered in blood. But that's not what attracted Fassad there. This boy was psychic... and possibly just the thing Fassad needed to prove himself./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"The boy woke up, confused. His bright green eyes darted around as he searched his surroundings for something familiar. The only thing he found was pigs, which made him look very, very confused. Then, he looked right at Fassad. "Excuse me, where am I?" the boy said. Fassad smiled politely, as he often had to in the past, and said sweetly "Hello, I'm Fassad. It's nice to meet you. I found you passed out and hurt on the ground, so I brought you here. Were you in danger?" Fassad wanted to puke hearing so much kindness in his voice, but he had to be careful with this one. Psychics aren't exactly common anymore... if they ever were to begin with. The boy was pretty badly bruised up, and was still clenching that knife he had been found with. Even when he was passed out, he still had a tight grip on it. "...No. I'm fine..." Fassad was getting annoyed with this boy's evasiveness, so he decided to deal with the matter at hand first./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Fassad turned to the pigmasks in the room. "Leave us. I'll call you back in when I need you." They looked at him confusedly, but left without incident. Then Fassad turned back to the boy, and said "PK Lifeup Omega!" All at once, all of the boy's bruises cleared up, and he was completely healed. He looked a lot younger now, much more innocent too. The boy finally put down the knife in surprise, then said "Wow, that was so cool! Can you teach me how to do that?" Fassad smiled, his plan going better than expected. "Of course. By the way, you never told me your name." The boy, much happier now, had a relaxed smile on his face. "Claus", he said. "Nice to meet you Claus. I'm sure you'll be able to pick up all sorts of tricks like that from me in no time."/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""You want to train a psychic?" King P asked, disapprovingly. "You and I should be the only psychics around here. I don't want anyone to get out of line." Fassad felt EXTREME annoyance. Of course, working for Porky meant he didn't have to be perfect sweet Locria, but this childish attitude is not a plus, that's for sure. This kid would be good for something or other, Fassad just had to prove it. "Of course, your majesty, a psychic would be able to do much more to serve you then a normal pigmask, and a human child like him would be able to do a lot, and he likely knows a lot more about Tazmily Village and all of it's secrets than we do." King P seemed to enjoy the thought of this. "Then do it already! What are you waiting for? I want something more powerful than you, so make it good! Don't forget, if you mess up and he does mess with me, there are much worse things than death. Well get going!" Fassad quickly bowed and left. He and this new kid had a lot of training to do. This kid had better be a strong one, that's for sure./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"strongBack in the present, around the same time but after the needle was pulled.../strong/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I need to get you out of here." Claus held his twin in front of him stiffly so he could see every facial feature. He recognized almost every one of them as the very same that his face used to be. The dim light, however, casted a shadow on Lucas' face causing everything to look eerie. Everything about this place set Claus at unease, yet he didn't feel scared or worried. He simply knew that his purpose was to bring Lucas home safely and nothing else. Nothing would be able to stop him from doing so either. Not unless it was stronger than him, which little was. Claus would give up his life to complete this mission, if he had to. Lucas was irreplaceable, but Claus could be replaced if necessary. Claus then grabbed his brother's hand, and walked in a quick but confident pace. He did so with no emotion and extreme stiffness. The other half was having a hard time keeping up./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Lucas noticed how cold Claus' hand felt. His gaze wasn't very friendly either. Lucas wanted to cry. His twin brother still couldn't be happy, even after the needles. It wasn't fair! Lucas should have stopped him, all those years ago. Should have made him stay. But instead, this is what happened, and there really is no changing it. Lucas struggled to keep up with Claus, and felt exhausted, but Claus hadn't really noticed. Claus was still moving quickly, efficiently, and coldly. Lucas couldn't see much in this tunnel, but Claus' red eye produced enough light for him to at least know what was in front of him. He just had to hope that if anything was behind him it would make itself heard. As Lucas walked, water droplet after water droplet descended down to him head. And each and every time one hit, he jumped, startled, and startling Claus. But Claus didn't stop moving then. And he didn't stop to rest either. Lucas' feet hurt, and it was getting hard to breathe, so it was a welcome relief when Claus stopped abruptly. Lucas opened his mouth to say something, but Claus placed a finger on Lucas' lips. Claus' red light eye thing stopped shining, and all the other lights in the tunnel went out too. Lucas was about to scream, but he remembered Claus' warning. He kept quiet, and curled up in a ball on the floor, wishing his friends were here./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Claus activated night vision mode as soon as possible. He could only see out of one eye this way, but that's likely one more eye then his opponent had. He had heard them sneaking up on him. Claus noted he probably terrified his brother, but maybe that's for the best so he's prepared for anything that could happen next. Lucas just needed to stay put so Claus could grab him and make a break for it if he had to. As soon as Claus found the source, a line of pigmask colonels, they all turned on flood lights at once, shocking all of Claus' sense and causing him to scream. His eyes needed to be at a high level of sensitivity so he could see in the dark, He feel backwards, his eyes hurting as if they were directly attacked, but he quickly got up. He grabbed his brother, since there was know no telling of where anything could be down here, and threw a bomb he had put in his pocket this morning at the ceiling. Lucas let out a little yelp as it exploded, but it caused no harm to him or to Claus. Claus snapped out his wings and flew straight through a hole he created up to the surface. But he forgot what else happened today. Rain. He quickly put his brother down on the ground and curled up into a ball himself to protect all things vital to him. But it wasn't doing much. The rain was so heavy that it went right through his shirt and got to his wings first. He could feel all of his circuits reject the water, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He felt his electrical charges reacting negatively to the water, and everything... went... dark.../span/p 


End file.
